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Spring 2012

Features

On Closer Inspection—The curiouser and curiouser world of the small :: In some ways, with so much science now involving tools that detect things outside the five senses, examining the world with a microscope seems quaint. But a corps of WSU researchers—let’s call them microscopists—are wrangling photons, electrons, glowing proteins, exotic stains, and remarkably powerful devices in their pursuit of the small. by Eric Sorensen

Indaba Coffee

Spokane’s Indaba Coffee is not your typical café. With a Zulu name
that loosely means a gathering of tribal leaders to discuss important
matters, the spot just north of the Spokane River is a resource for
locals. The business has bulletin boards on the ceiling and space
shared with a small nonprofit bookstore. It serves residents of the
affordable housing project just upstairs as well as the attorneys who
work at the county courthouse down the street.

It’s the lively atmosphere founder and owner Bobby Enslow ’06, ’08
MBA is trying to brew up. “This is a place where successful people can
gather and have an important conversation,” he said. “It’s also a space
for everyone to rub shoulders.”

It was a long journey that led Enslow to his current job. It started a
few years ago when he spent two months in South Africa for an
internship as an administration consultant for an HIV/AIDS clinic while
working on his MBA. He found he liked the outreach work. After
finishing his degree, Enslow moved back to his native Spokane and dug
back into his own community. “I was the head of marketing development
for a nonprofit,” he said. “We started looking into this neighborhood
and realized they were missing a third gathering place.”

A third place, the first being home and the second workplace, is
defined by urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg as a spot like a pub, eatery,
or park where individuals in a community can meet and form bonds,
talk politics, and feel engaged. However, the idea for a coffee shop
actually came from a local Lutheran pastor, according to Indaba
co-founder Ben Doornink ’07.

“The pastor wanted to have a building with church on Sunday but a
coffee shop-type place during the week,” he said. “We loved the idea so
much that we decided to use it, without the church, of course.”

Doornink has supported the business in a variety of ways since it
first opened in 2009. He even tried serving the patrons but found it
wasn’t his strongest skill. “I tried to get behind the register one day,
and they never let me back,” he said. “I handle more of the
behind-the-scenes, day-to-day operations now.”

No matter the origins of the idea, the desire to serve the community
is a philosophy they take on in many aspects of their business. The
shop serves gourmet espressos, sandwiches, soups, and pastries as well
as soda. They try to stay local and affordable with their products.
“We buy all of our produce locally from a hydroponic place,” Enslow
said. “We have a neighborhood baker doing all the baked goods. We even
buy our coffee from Bumper Crop, a group of roasters out of Spokane.”

According to Enslow, all the baristas are trained to make latte art.
Latte art is topping the beverage with cream to make an artistic
design. In addition, Indaba offers coffee made using a French press.
“We use only French press and offer it for $1.50,” he said.

They help out local artists, musicians, and artisans, displaying and selling their creations at the shop.

Though it’s in a lower-income neighborhood, Indaba has found
customers both in the immediate blocks and throughout the city. “We
really get a lot of neighborhood support, but there aren’t enough
neighbors” to solely make the business successful, he said. Fortunately,
“we also get a lot of destination traffic. People go out of their way
to come here.”

Indaba is one of the first businesses in the Kendall Yards project
area, a planned development to revitalize the neighborhood northwest of
downtown through remodeling and rebuilding. The Indaba owners support
the venture. “We want to be a catalyst of economic development,” said
Doornink.